Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Total Lunar Eclipse, April 4, 2015

Eastern horizon as seen from Sydney on 4 April at 9:15 pm AEDST. The eclipse is just about to begin. Click to embiggen

Eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide on 4 April at 8:45 pm ACDST . The eclipse is just starting. Click to embiggen

Eastern horizon as seen from Perth on 4 April at 6:15 pm AWST. The eclipse is about to start. Click to embiggen

Above the North-Eastern horizon as seen from Sydney on 4 April
at 10:54 pm AEDST. The total eclipse has just begun . Click to
embiggen

North-Eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide on 4 April at 10:24 pm ACDST. The total eclipse has just begun . Click to embiggen

Eastern horizon as seen from Perth on 4 April at 8:00 pm AWST. The total eclipse is just about midway. Click to embiggen

On the evening of 4 April there there be a total eclipse of the
Moon, the only Lunar eclipse seen from Australia, and the last we will see until 2018.
The 4 April
eclipse starts after twilight has ended in the eastern and central states. In Western Australia the partial phase occurs shortly after sunset, and
totality starts when the sky is fully dark. Totality is short, only 12 minutes long for this eclipse. See timings table below.

You don't need special filters or fancy equipment to watch the lunar
eclipse, you just need your eyes and somewhere comfortable to sit and
watch. Binoculars or a telescope are a plus, but not necessary.
A guide to taking photos of the eclipse is here.

On the East coast, the eclipse starts after when the sky is quite dark at 8:15 pm AEST (9:15 pm
AEDST) and Totality is at 9:54 pm AEST (10:54 pm AEDST), so the Moon will appear to be a burnished
copper disk in a dark sky full of stars. As totality fades you will see
the stars extinguish.

In the central states the eclipse starts just after Astronomical twilight at 7:45 pm
ACST (8:45 pm ACDST) and Totality begins at 9:24 pm ACST (10:24 pm ACDST). Central states will also
see the eclipsed Moon in all its coppery glory and the stars fade as the
Moon returns.

In WA, the eclipse starts in the just after sunset, but totality will occur when the sky is fully dark. The eclipse starts at 6:15 pm
AWST and Totality begins at 7:54 pm AWST.

The eclipse occurs
reasonably high in the sky and is good viewing from almost anywhere. It finishes a bit late for the kids though.

New Zealand sees the eclipse late in the evening and the early morning of the following day.